Butterflies and Cigarettes
by infinite beauty
Summary: Tikkicentric. Various short stories written for 30 Gens.
1. Butterflies

_Notes: Due to Tikki's…talents, the story will have some blood and bodily parts. This is a blanket warning, some may have none, some may have quite a bit. You have been warned. Enjoy!_

**Title: **Butterflies  
**Theme number:** 31. Pets (alternate)  
**Disclaimer/claimer:** Hoshino Katsura owns both D.Gray-Man and Tikki Mick.

"Tikki, I have a gift for you."

The Earl's smile was even wider than usual as he let the butterfly out of its cage. It flew around the room for a while, blue wings flashing, before settling on Tikki's shoulder. Up close, he saw that it had a mouth full of pointed teeth.

"Thank you Earl, but what on Earth is it?" he asked, intrigued. The wings had cutouts in the shape of diamonds, how interesting.

"Isn't it lovely? It is a special kind of golem. It eats people!" Ah, so now Tikki knew the reason for the smile.

"And is it mine?" he asked, reaching up to pet the butterfly.

"All yours, Tikki-bon. I know you will use him well." The Earl turned to go, "Oh, don't forget to name him!" and with a laugh, he was gone.

"Don't forget to name him, huh?" Tikki sighed. "Well then, 'Tease', let's get to work."


	2. Biology Homework

**Title: **Biology Homework

**Theme number:** 14. Education  
**Disclaimer/claimer:** Hoshino Katsura owns both D.Gray-Man and Tikki Mick.

"No, the liver is farther down." Tikki points. He has never enjoyed helping Rhode with her homework before, never having been to school himself, but this is something he knows.

"Here?"

"Slightly higher than that…good." Biology is definitely more interesting than algebra or French, more suited to his abilities, he muses. As Rhode pins the slippery liver in place, he smiles and asks her if she has any other questions.


	3. Welcome to the Family

**Title: **Welcome to the Family

**Prompt: **Family

Tikki remembered the time he first learned about his Noah heritage. The first time he had found out about his interesting new family.

First had come the crosses branded deep into his forehead, followed by strange hallucinatory dreams: butterflies and houses of cards, all chanting one word, _Innocence_. Next came the odd feeling one day that he could simply stick his hand through the old shopkeeper's abdomen, grab her intestines and yank them out. But that was absurd.

Then the Millennium Earl came, with his wide smile, ridiculous top hat, and all the answers. Well, not _all_ of the answers, but enough.

It seemed he had the blood of the Noah's running through his veins. He was part of a new family; a better, different family, just like him. The Earl gestured behind him and Tikki saw a little girl, couldn't be more than thirteen, in high socks and a short skirt. There was a large man behind her, looking angry and eating some sort of fruit candy, if the bright wrappers poking out of his pocket were anything to go by.

"These are your new siblings." The Earl had grinned, and Tikki, looking at the mismatched trio, had grinned back.


	4. Friendly Conversation

**Title: **Friendly Conversation

**Prompt:** Secrets

"Tikki," began Eaze as the two walked to the miner's cafeteria, "where do you go when you leave for your jobs?"

Tikki looked at the boy, startled at the question. While he supposed that he _had_ been leaving a bit more often lately, with the excuse of getting called to other jobs, he hadn't expected to be asked about his disappearances. His glasses hid the flickers of alarm in his eyes as he regarded Eaze. It was obvious he couldn't tell the boy the truth, so Tikki decided to go for the 'friendly, yet mysterious' approach.

"I'll tell you where I go," he said, resting a hand on Eaze's shoulder, "if you tell me why you wear that mask all the time." There, he won either way. If Eaze kept quiet, then he wouldn't have to lie, and if Eaze spoke up, he would finally learn something about the kid. He could always make something up about where he went anyway.

To his interest however, Eaze stayed silent, looking moody and thoughtful. The two didn't speak until they reached the rest of the guys. Some secrets weren't meant to be shared.


	5. Beach Days

**Title: **Beach Days

**Prompt**: Ocean

Tikki had always loved the ocean. It came from growing up in a fishing village on the coast. He and the other children would swim and play in the sand when they weren't out fishing with their fathers. The smell of the sea, always crisp and slightly fishy, filling the air and getting in his clothes. Really, thought Tikki, what was there not to love about the sea?

Now, of course, he was in Japan, an _island_, surrounded by ocean. He had asked to get together a group to go to the ocean, an idea which the Earl heartily supported, but Akuma weren't as fun as real people. They had no idea what to do and usually ended up trying to eat one another. Not that Jasdero and Debitt were any better, those idiots, they burnt redder than tomatoes and cursed at him from underneath the Earl's enormous beach umbrella. In fact, only Rhode seemed to 'get' the idea of the beach and the ocean. She built a beautiful sand-castle, although the effect was ruined by the large amount of time she spent on the torture chambers.

Tikki watched everyone, remembering his days at the ocean as a child, and sighed. His new family, while certainly more interesting than his old one, had no concept of a 'normal day at the ocean.' He was vaguely embarrassed.

But when Rhode asked him when they where going again, and Jasdero and Debitt ran from room to room looking for something to relieve the pain of their burns, he decided that even if the ocean wasn't exactly how he remembered, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.


	6. Meeting

**Title:** Meeting  
**Prompt:** Flesh Wound

See him now, the man in the elegant top hat and the white gloves. His dark hair is slicked back, and he wears the cocky smile of one who knows that he is better than others. A few women look sideways at him through their long lashes, admiring his good looks.

The man in the top hat greets another man in a long black overcoat with large silver buttons. They talk for a while, have a few drinks, and laugh. A game of cards breaks out.

Later, the man in the overcoat (now minus some amount of money, Top Hat played dirty) leaves. He is followed, although he doesn't know it until a voice congratulates him on a game well played, and by then it is too late.

The man in the top hat lunges forward and plunges his hand into Overcoat's chest. The top hat falls off to reveal a pattern of cross scars branded across the man's forehead like a crown. Noah. As the Exorcist struggles to get away a look of sadistic glee crosses the Noah's face, as he imagines himself holding the other man's fragile heart in his white-gloved hand, and quickly gives a heart-wrenching tug.

_Apologies for my late update, but I haven't had much inspiration lately._


	7. Mirror Mirror

**Title:** Mirror, Mirror

**Theme Number:** 4. House of Mirrors

**Disclaimer:** Hoshino Katsura owns both Tikki Mick and D.Gray-Man

Tikki found himself walking slowly through humid dark halls. There was no light anywhere, just heavy blackness that meant he could not see his nose in front of his face, so onward he went, in the hopes of spying some tiny glimpse of light. Step after step he took, down what must have been miles of corridor, blindly reaching out for anything that could save him from this horrible, oppressive dark, closing in on him like heavy stone walls.

The light came just as he thought he might go mad, a tiny glow in the distance. Cheered, he ran towards it, relieved to find some respite from the constant dark. When he reached the source of the light, he was surprised to find that it was a door, with the light filtering out brightly from the cracks. He straightened his clothes hurriedly, lest there be someone of importance in the mysterious room, and tried the handle.

The door swung open easily, revealing a tiny room, hardly bigger than a closet, with a mirror on the opposite wall. Cautiously, he stepped in, curious as to why he should have been led on such a long chase to only find a little room. There was nothing special about it, apart from perhaps the color scheme, which was the most melancholy shade of gray he had ever seen in his life, and the mirror, which was plain and gold. Tikki, realizing that the mirror was most likely there for a purpose, took a step forward and glanced into it.

_There he was, surrounded by his family like some sort of portrait. Rhode was smiling broadly, arms tightly around his waist. The twins were there two, off to the side, identical scowls on their faces. The Earl was there too; hand on Tikki's shoulder and that enormous smile pasted on. Tikki could see Skin, a hulking mass in the back. His other brothers and sisters too, were in the picture, slightly indistinct in the back. It seemed like an ideal family portrait, except for the fact that everyone's eyes burned with hatred. The bloodlust in their eyes gave the picture a menacing feel, a disturbing aura that let the watcher know that these people could kill you, and would do so happily._

Tikki stepped back with a short cry. He knew his family, knew that they killed, but he had never seen that look in their eyes, never seen that look in _his_ eyes. He thought that he had kept his humanity, through spending half his time as a human and half as a Noah, but if this glimpse was any clue, he had completely lost it. He spun on his heel and took a step forward, reaching out for the door. Even the endless black corridor was better than the mirror.

The door had disappeared, and in its place was the same gray wall with the same plain gold mirror as before. His step brought him up close and before he could stop he found himself looking into the mirror once more.

_He was with the boys, just coming out of a hard day's work in the mine. Everyone's face was streaked with dirt and his hands were bleeding from the splintery handle of his pickaxe. Eaze was coughing, eyes red from all the dust that had got into them. It wasn't good for the boy to be working in the mines, but he insisted, and nobody had the heart to refuse such a sweet boy, so they made sure that he took regular breaks and Tikki always made sure that he had the best they could afford. The atmosphere was one of weariness and friendship. Tikki knew that they would all stick together just as he knew that they would all die before their time, too much hard work. Eaze finished his coughing fit and straightened up, turning and looked directly into Tikki's eyes._

Tikki stepped back, his hands clenched tightly. The scene had seemed so real…he could smell the sweat and the dirt smeared into every crevice of his face. The sight of everyone so tired had made him realize that he couldn't travel with them forever, Noah's lived for far longer than ordinary humans, and how would he keep his humanity after they had gone? Would he descend into some form of amiable madness as the Earl seemed to have done, smiling one moment and then killing the next? But then, it seemed that he already did that. A shiver passed over him as he realized he could still feel the sticky slick blood from the mirror scene on his hands. It seemed that he always had blood on his hands, whether he was black or white.

He made a slow turn to the right, half-hoping that the door would appear now that the two sides of his life had been shown. However, the mirror was still there, right in front of him. With a sigh, he walked towards it, knowing that he wouldn't get out of the room until the mirror had shown him all that it wished to.

_Tikki had a new assignment, just one name. How the Innocence had managed to keep off the radar they weren't sure, perhaps it simply hadn't been invoked until now. As he turned to Cell, he saw that the Earl was smiling far more broadly than usual, never a good sign. He asked Cell the name of the assignment, and felt all the blood drain from his face as he was answered with a single word._

_"Eaze."_

The mirror abruptly changed scenes, this time to a dim room, apparently at an inn somewhere.

_Eaze sat on the edge of his mattress, wheezing. After a moment he stopped and looked around, then reached up to untie the mask around his face. With a jolt, Tikki realized he had never seen Eaze without his mask before. He had always assumed that the boy wore it because of breathing problems, but with the assignment…perhaps there was something else. _

_The thin white mask fell away from Eaze's face, and Tikki gasped. Instead of a mouth, there was just an empty hole, sucking at the air. This must be his Innocence, Tikki thought, and he reached out to touch Eaze's shoulder. He was just about to put his hand down when Eaze looked up again and a terrible, sad voice came from the hole in his face._

_"Are you going to kill me, Tikki?"_

Tikki awoke with a start, heart pounding. It was only a dream, he told himself, a nightmare. Dreams never meant anything, did they now?

But he spent the rest of the night awake, the scenes from the mirrors replaying in his head.

_A/N: Sorry again for the delay! This is a much longer story than my usual ones, so I hope that makes up for it. Hope to see you soon!_


	8. Duality

_Spoilers for ch 117. From now on, I shall not warn for any spoilers. You have been warned._

Title: Duality

Prompt: One-Way Street

Tikki has always found it remarkably easy to switch personas. To him, the change between human and Noah was as simple as changing shirts. The most brilliant thing about his switches was his ability to keep both lives, both characters, different.

His human side liked to drink, play cards, spend time with his friends. His human side was prone to worrying about finances and other people's health. A pretty good guy, his human side.

His Noah side was far more charming, far more sinister. His Noah side would asphyxiate you with a smile on his face. His Noah side valued family far above everything else, and loved to tease. Not that nice, his Noah side.

Tikki reveled in the contrast between his sides. Light, dark; white, black; human, Noah; there were so many ways to refer to his different sides. They bled into each other, from time to time— he certainly got the urge to rip out the mine overseer's heart once or twice, and he occasionally found himself trying to convince the family to a good game of cards— but on the whole he preferred to keep the two aspects of his life as separate as possible. He loved each half dearly, couldn't be happy unless he had both, was _whole_.

So when Allen informed him that his Noah had been exorcised, Tikki felt sick to his stomach. To never be able to help Rhode with her homework, to never be able to feel a victim's heart beat _just so_ or to never wander with his Tease again…To be human forever…

Where was the pleasure in that?


End file.
